"They create agents of influence": Russia tries to discredit Ukrainians in Europe

The screening of the film "20 days in Mariupol" by Ukrainian journalist Mstislav Chernov was canceled in Serbia, the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia announced on October 17, condemning this move. The film was supposed to be shown on October 11 in the "Modern" gallery in the Cultural Center of the city of Lazarevac. The statement of the Association states that the day before, the Serbian Radical Party called for a ban on the showing of the film, which appealed to the competent authorities with a request to ban the showing of this film anywhere in Serbia.

Serbian journalists pointed out that the radicals in this country support Russia, they are worried about the "propaganda of an extremely anti-Russian film" and they wonder who finances the showing of the film, as it is planned to be free. The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists considers it a defeat that the Cultural Center succumbed to the pressure of a political group and decided to remove the Ukrainian film from its repertoire.

The documentary film "20 days in Mariupol" by war correspondent Mstislav Chernov will represent Ukraine at the 96th Academy Awards in the category of the best international feature film. In May of this year, the filmmakers were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their work. In Ukraine, it became the highest-grossing film at the Ukrainian box office, the distribution company "Arthouse Trafik" announced.

 

"Pro-Kremlin narratives in Serbia"

 

Why was the screening of the Ukrainian film about the events in Mariupol canceled in Serbia, Novosti iz Azov asked colleagues from RSE's Balkan service, who are investigating the situation, in more detail.

"The Serbian Radical Party is an extreme right-wing, ultra-right party. It is therefore not surprising that they are seeking a ban. The leader of this party, Vojislav Šešelj, was convicted of war crimes during the wars in Yugoslavia. And when he got out of prison, he continued to spread hate speech. And now, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, he supports pro-Kremlin narratives with his public statements," said journalist Nevena Bogdanović.

She noted that the Serbian Radical Party does not have its representatives either in the Assembly of the country or in the municipality of Lazarevac, where the Ukrainian film was supposed to be shown.

"That's why it's not really clear why such a small party with a radical attitude managed to fulfill its demands - to prevent the screening of the film. "We have not received any explanation from the local authorities as to why this happened," Bogdanović said.

The journalist says that now, nevertheless, there is a strong influence of the Russian Federation in local politics, in the media and even in the church. Since the big Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Serbian government officials have not cut ties with the Kremlin, she says.

"They (authorities - ed.) are counting on Russian support in issues related to Kosovo. There is a great Russian influence in the media. Russia also has a great influence on public opinion. Polls show that Serbian citizens are against anti-Russian sanctions. About 2/3 of people are against sanctions. Also, we note that, despite the fact that the Serbian authorities declare that they support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, they are categorically against the sanctions introduced against the Russian Federation. Therefore, public opinion coincides with the actions of the government," Bogdanović added.

 

"It feels indifference"

 

Ukrainian director, producer, co-founder of the creative association "Bavilon'13" Julia Hontaruk has been making documentaries and feature films related to war since 2014. She told "Novosti iz Priazovia" that Russian propaganda, which is aimed at a foreign audience, has an effect from time to time.

"They do it so subtly that it doesn't surprise me at all that they want to ban it. I am not at all surprised that some pro-Russian cultural figures banned the exhibition of "Orest" by Dmytro Kozacki (defender of Mariupol - author's note) in Spain. On the one hand, it can be said that it is a success, it means the right message if there is a confrontation. On the other hand, it is necessary to expose these narratives.

The cultural front is extremely important, we must continue to fight. We have to do as many performances as possible abroad, that's very important. It is necessary for the authors to leave. It's one thing to just say the film, it's another when you have a dialogue with the audience, that's important," she noted.

Ukrainian documentaries about the war are received both in Europe and the USA, mostly warmly and with understanding. However, there are cases when indifference is felt, says the director.

"All last year I was constantly traveling abroad. Although I didn't want to do that, because when I conditionally went to Cannes for that presentation, it was, of course, very difficult - to endure two different realities. I saw indifference. They told me about the screening of "Mariupolis 2" by the late Mantas Kvedaravičius (Lithuanian director and documentarian who recorded events at the hotspots - ed. author), when the Frenchman fell asleep during the screening. And you think, how is that possible? That is, these are films about war, how can you fall asleep. I felt that there was a great distance between us. At least in France, I definitely felt it," said Hontaruk.

But European countries support Ukrainian cinematography in the context of securing space for screening at film festivals.

"In March, I traveled to the USA and we also showed Ukrainian films there, the audience received it very warmly. Of course, what they see on the screen is a shock to them. But Ukraine, unfortunately, stopped being on the front pages of newspapers and news for almost a year," Hontaruk added.

 

"Stories about ungrateful refugees"

 

Russia finds various ways to turn residents of European countries against Ukraine and its citizens, the Institute for Mass Information (IMI) claims. In particular, they use groups to support and help Ukrainian migrants who left their homes due to the invasion of Russia. They are trying to impose the image of "brazen idlers who travel in search of high social benefits" on Ukrainians, notes IMI, which conducted its own monitoring of social networks. The results of the study were published on October 20.

The study states that Russian narratives are most promoted in groups that help Ukrainians in Germany on Facebook, Telegram and YouTube platforms. Ukrainians began to be seen as a burden on the economy of the countries that receive them. Posts actively using the term "social tourism" began to appear on social networks. They try to portray Ukrainians not as refugees from the war, but as tourists who move from country to country, looking for better places and higher amounts of social assistance, according to the text of IMI.

 

Journalists spoke with the author of this study, Tetjana Kavunenko. She said that there are groups on social networks that try to position themselves as helping Ukrainians, but at the same time they spread hate speech.

She says that at the beginning of the invasion, when Ukrainians went to EU countries en masse, dissatisfaction was noticed, especially because of the language barrier. Ukrainians needed special translators.

"There was a lot of hatred: "why are you going if you don't know foreign languages?". Later, other narratives began to develop. That Ukrainians are lazy, Ukrainians are devalued, saying that they can only work, relatively speaking, as cleaners. That is, when a person does not work, he is not very good, and when he is looking for a job, there is also a moment that can be caught. Everything is based on the fact that you will not find a good job, go home," said Kavunenko.

Also, a narrative about the seemingly ingratitude of Ukrainians towards Europeans is spreading on social networks, says the journalist.

"Another narrative is emerging that since many Ukrainians have left and, most likely, most of them will not return, the Ukrainian people as such will not exist in a few hundred years, and no one will even remember them. That is, some of these narratives are so absurd, but it is precisely in this absurdity that there is meaning. People who are not knowledgeable, especially foreigners, who are not very knowledgeable about all these political issues and causes of war, they read it and take it for granted. In fact, it affects the image of Ukrainians as a nation and the image of Ukraine in general," explains Kavunenko.

 

"The goal is to quarrel Ukrainians"

 

Kavunenko is convinced that the purpose of spreading anti-Ukrainian posts on social networks is to reduce support for Ukraine and Ukrainians.

"This propaganda works systematically, it works on all channels, very often again in the name of Ukrainians. Since there are a lot of anonymous posts, it is very difficult to verify who this person is, and this brings results in the sense that many foreigners really write that they have stopped helping Ukrainians completely or are helping less. Everything works. And there is a great danger in that," Kavunenko pointed out.

In addition, one of the goals of Russian propaganda is the mutual division of Ukrainians, according to the media expert. According to her, among the things that have been spreading recently are the stories that "Liv is a safe city, that

Europe cannot accept everyone and should only accept Ukrainians from the eastern regions".

"A lot of people get involved in this, not everyone wants to really think about it, get involved emotionally. Indeed, a person who, for example, is from Mariupol, from Bakhmut, has lost his home or his relatives, for him this is such a personal emotional moment and he can get involved in it. There are Ukrainians who are victims of Russian propaganda, they are repeat offenders. These are people who have spent most of their lives listening to Russian television, reading Russian news, supporting pro-Russian politicians. It is clear that they have one image in their head and see it in their own way. All this encourages hostility," explained Kavunenko.

 

"European support is growing"

 

Radio Sloboda correspondent Olena Abramović, who has been living and working in Brussels for several years, told Novosti iz Azov that there are political forces in the European Union that are connected with Russia. But they are in the minority and generally do not have significant influence.

"If we are talking about the EU, you can focus on the researches of various European services, on the statistics that have been published, in general, support for Ukraine continues, support for Ukrainian refugees continues, despite the fact that, for example, the prices of energy and utility services have increased significantly. That is, in general it has a large economic impact, and Russia has tried to dispel that feeling in principle.

I even received letters from members of the European Parliament, from which it can be seen that they receive mail from a certain political force in the form of some kind of comic book - gas bills, where they try to say that only you pay those bills for energy, for arms to Ukraine, and, so to speak, the European politicians are using you. Such narratives are tried to be inserted, but I don't feel they have much impact. Again, taking into account what public opinion polls show," notes Abramović.

According to her, the latest studies conducted in the EU show that support for Ukraine as a whole and for Ukrainians in Europe has recently increased.

"In 2024 there will be European elections in the EU. Then ordinary people elect deputies who will represent their country in the EU. Before these elections, a series of polls are conducted in order to understand the mood of the citizens, which policies they support and which they do not. So that they would later

include this policy in their election programs. And such polls of the EU population show that they strongly support all the actions of the European authorities related to Ukraine," said Abramovich.

In general, Ukrainians fit well into European society, so it is difficult for Russian propaganda to promote its narratives, the journalist added.

Sociological polls of Europeans have shown an increase in trust in the EU in general thanks to support for Ukraine. 74 percent of respondents approve of this policy. The greatest support (more than 95 percent) is given by the citizens of Finland and Sweden, and 64 percent approve of the acquisition of weapons and the status of a candidate for EU membership in Ukraine. The EU's policy towards Ukraine inspires the most confidence among respondents compared to all other issues and political decisions in Brussels. In particular, such research was conducted by the Eurobarometer (an international project of regular public opinion polls conducted under the auspices of the European Commission - op. cit.) in June in 27 EU countries in order to understand the priorities of voters just before the upcoming European parliamentary elections.

 

"Ukrainians are changing the views of Europeans"

 

Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Stockholm Center for the Study of Eastern Europe, tells Novosti iz Azov that Russian propaganda narratives in Europe do not significantly affect support for Ukrainians.

"Unlike refugees from other countries, for example, from Asian countries, Africa, Ukrainian refugees have a relatively good reputation. And in Germany they are integrating, many of them are already working and there are no such fundamental cultural differences as with refugees from Arab countries. As far as I can see, Germany or Sweden, which I often visit, not only have a lot of support from the state, but also from the population. There, many Ukrainians are already integrated into the workforce, that is, they already work somewhere, are participants in public life. And that's why this Russian propaganda doesn't work, and it's mainly the sympathy of the population," says the political scientist.

The presence of Ukrainians in Europe contributes to support for Ukraine, he pointed out. In particular, these people can say something about the war, Ukraine, and the presence of so many Ukrainians in Germany has changed the discussion in this country about Ukraine and about Russia, noted Umland.

"There are a lot of pro-Ukraine actions there, even in small towns, in support of Ukraine, and that has changed the civic atmosphere in many cities. This is

especially true of East Germany. Because there was always a lot of support for Russia, even for Putin. And that has changed now," added Umland.

 

How the Russian Federation uses foreign students

 

On October 25, Gazeta Realii published an investigation into how Russia uses foreign students for its own propaganda. The text says that the number of young people coming to study at Russian universities increased by thousands in the year of the invasion. A new increase in the number of students is announced this year as well. The expenditures of the Russian state budget for the education of foreign students have also increased. Faced with economic sanctions, war spending, inflation and a budget crisis, Russia continues to increase efforts to educate foreigners.

The editor-in-chief of this newspaper, Andriy Dikhtarenko, told Novosti iz Azov that Russia is trying to attract young foreigners to study in the occupied territories.

"They are doing everything to attract students from African, Asian countries and even from Europe to the occupied territories. Why? Because these foreigners themselves are used as propaganda. Propaganda that, above all, Russia really controls the occupied territories - from Crimea to Luhansk. Second, they are trying to create safe conditions there. Thirdly, and this is the most important, foreign students in this way legitimize the Russian occupation", explained the editor of the paper.

According to him, Russia is doing everything so that these students, when they return home to their countries, continue to promote the ideas of "the normalization of the Russian occupation, the ideas of the Russian world." In addition, foreign students are attracted by the cheap price of education.

"Students come to study in the Russian Federation, enroll in a university and, for example, have to spend several thousand dollars a year. And then they are told, you know, you can transfer to a university in Donetsk or Luhansk and you will pay half as much. What's more, you can't even go there, you'll just pretend you're there, and then in the final year you'll transfer again to St. Petersburg or Krasnodar and get a local diploma. It should be understood that these are all so-called "dead souls". They participate in education absolutely formally and are almost never physically in the occupied territories," said Dikhtarenko.

 

"Long Strategy"

 

By training foreign students in this way, Russia is creating its own "agents of influence" for the long term, he added.

"This loyalty to Russia is rather a long-term strategy, a future strategy. It is important for the Russian Federation that as many future intelligentsia, future leadership apparatus, people who are active, who participate in politics, come to Russian higher education institutions and be influenced by Russian propaganda, Russian ideology.

There are even cases, and we wrote about it, when a student from the Czech Republic, from the city of Pilsen, studied in Volgograd. He came home to the Czech Republic, where he became the deputy head of the city council of the city of Pilsen. He takes a picture against the background of Stalin's bust, the "Georgian strip", talks about how everything is better in Russia than in Europe, and now he has become a local politician. This is the most ideal scenario for the Russian Federation. "She really uses students as agents of influence," emphasized Andrij Dikhtyarenko.